30 Seconds With Jim Palmer

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Jim Palmer is the only pitcher to win World Series games in three decades, in 1966, 1970, 1971 and 1983.CreditAssociated Press

By Joe Brescia

April 8, 2014

Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, grew up a Yankees fan in New York. One of his fondest memories is of his father taking him to his first game at Yankee Stadium in 1954. The Indians were playing the Yankees. He was amazed at how the field glowed.

“It rained,” he said, “so the grass was even greener.”

Palmer eventually made his own memories in major league parks around the country. His résumé includes 268 victories, a .638 winning percentage, eight 20-win seasons and a 2.86 earned run average in 19 seasons. He is the only pitcher to win World Series games in three decades, in 1966, 1970, 1971 and 1983. He won three Cy Young Awards and four Gold Gloves. He threw a no-hitter against Oakland in 1969 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Palmer, 68, now a television commentator for Orioles games, expects the team to contend for the playoffs.

His charity work includes support for Autism Speaks, the autism advocacy organization, and for B.A.T., or the Baseball Assistance Team, which helps former players and baseball employees who have fallen on hard times.

Q.How do you spend your time away from baseball?

A. In the winter, my wife, Susan, has a shop in Palm Beach — Island Home. I help her there. My stepson, Spencer, is autistic. He’s 17 and I take him to school and we go to the gym and I do a lot of things with him. I do a lot of fund-raising in Palm Beach and support Autism Speaks.

Q.Is there a pitcher who reminds you of you?

A. Michael Wacha of the Cardinals has a similar windup. He comes over the top and throws hard. He has the big curveball. We both got to the big leagues very early.

Q.What do you think of the Orioles’ additions of Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez?

A. I was at the Orioles Fanfest and said to Dan Duquette, “Ah, the most well-rested G.M. in baseball.” I have that kind of relationship with him. He started laughing. He said hopefully we’re not done. Then they go out and get Jimenez and Cruz. Jimenez had a great last 16 games last year. Cruz’s power will help replace Nate McLouth offensively, although he won’t be as good defensively or give you the same speed.

I love their core players: Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, J. J. Hardy, Nick Markakis, who was not healthy last year, Manny Machado. Brooks Robinson told me, I’m not sure if Machado’s not better than I was. That’s quite a statement. I see them as contenders.

Q.How do you think Masahiro Tanaka will do for the Yankees?

A. Culture, strike zone, facing the best hitters on the planet. Yankee Stadium is not easy to pitch in. There’s always an adjustment period. The Yankees would be very pleased if he pitched as well as Yu Darvish has.

Q.What do you think about Derek Jeter’s retiring?

A. Baseball is going to miss him. He’s one of the transcendent players. I’ve played with Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. They’re graceful, have a tremendous work ethic. Reliable. I once asked Derek, your lifetime average is what, .312? You almost hit the same with runners in scoring position. He looked at me and he said, “Well, what changes?” The mind-set of Derek Jeter was that it didn’t matter what stage he played on. He was able to be the same player and do it for 20 years.

Q.Any regrets?

A. The love/hate relationship that I supposedly had with Earl Weaver. I wish I had been a little more mature in my relationship with Earl. I’m not sure it would have changed anything. That and the fact that you learn not to judge people by your standards. When I got to the Hall of Fame I gave him a lot of credit. Any time a manager puts your name in the starting lineup as the pitcher that means he trusts you. And Earl did it over a 10-, 11-, 12-year period.

Q.What hitter who was not a star player gave you the most trouble?

A.Doug Griffin. I pitched away and he loved the ball out over the plate. He was an outside-half hitter. That all changed when Nolan Ryan hit him in the helmet. He stopped diving.

Q.What do you think of the expanded use of replay review?

A. They’re going to have to fine-tune it to make sure they don’t make the game longer. But it’s in the spirit of trying to get the calls right. It’s embraced by baseball, and the umpires want to get calls right. Being an umpire is probably the most difficult thing in baseball. I know it’s tough to hit 97-mile-an-hour pitches, curves and sliders. But every time you make a call, you’re going to make somebody unhappy.

Q.Should players who used performance-enhancing drugs be allowed in the Hall of Fame?

A. Cal Ripken Sr. once told me when I was 18 years old — we’re all in Class A, making $414 after taxes, living in basements, trying to get to Double A — there are no such things as shortcuts. In a perfect world, they don’t get in even though there are some deserving guys who were Hall of Fame players. They just decided to take shortcuts. I’m not a baseball writer, but I would be more inclined to vote for the guys who used them and still were Hall of Fame caliber players.

The most difficult thing is how are you going to hurt the Barry Bondses of the world, the Roger Clemenses, who did not need to do anything? The writers at some point might say Bonds was going to get to the Hall of Fame, but he wasn’t going to hit 73 home runs.

And if they let anybody who used performance-enhancing drugs in, then Pete Rose ought to get in the same year.

Q.Would Major League Baseball welcome an openly gay player?

A. I see no reason why not. The great thing about baseball is you can really be a zebra, but it’s about if you can play or not. It’s not about race or sexuality.

Q.What’s on your iPod?

A. My wife is a George Strait fan, and I listen to him. I listen to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. They bet on the Orioles in 1966, 40 to 1, to win four straight. A thousand dollars. And the next year I got invited to see Frank at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach in spring training. But, unfortunately, they play a lot of Sinatra at Yankee Stadium when they beat the Orioles.